The present invention relates to image processing of whole body computed tomography (CT) scans, and more particularly, to automated detection of organs and anatomic landmarks in whole body CT scans.
Whole body CT scanning is a common practice for diagnosis of systemic diseases. However, the large amount of data in whole body CT scans makes it difficult for a clinician to efficiently navigate whole body CT data. Accordingly, automatic tools are desirable to support navigation of whole body CT data.
Recently, methods have been developed for segmenting the heart and the liver in CT images, but such methods are organ specific and difficult to transfer to other organs. Most conventional approaches for segmenting multiple structures rely on probabilistic atlases that are registered non-rigidly to an image. Such conventional approaches have the following disadvantages. First, non-rigid registrations cannot handle topological changes in the organ boundaries. Such changes occur when an organ has moved from its usual place or is greatly enlarged due to disease. Accordingly, the conventional approaches are not accurate when abnormalities or disease is present. Second, registration techniques are typically computationally expensive, which can lead to long processing times.